Paul Harvey

Paul Ragle Harvey (born 29 January 1940) is a British composer and former concert pianist. After being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2019, he rose to prominence in September 2020 following a viral video of him playing the piano. The video led to Harvey performing with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and recording a number-one single.

Early life and education Harvey was born on 29 January 1940 in Stoke-on-Trent.

Later life Harvey was moved into sheltered housing in 2015 and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2019. when Nick asked his father to improvise a song using only four notes: F, A, D and B. The two-minute long performance was recorded and uploaded to Nick's Twitter account. The clip went viral and gained over 2 million views. It was aired on BBC Radio 4 on 21 September for World Alzheimer's Day.

Harvey was invited onto Good Morning Britain as a guest following the viral video. On the program, he was requested by Susanna Reid to create another four-note improvisation using the notes C, D, G and B.

After radio listeners requested an orchestral version of the song, Paddy O'Connell arranged for Harvey to record the piece as a charity single with the BBC Philharmonic. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this took place remotely, with all orchestra members recording and submitting their parts from home. The piece was arranged for the orchestra by Daniel Whibley.

Stephen Sondheim, lyricist of West Side Story, contacted Harvey after seeing the video. In a video message to Harvey given through the BBC, he called the piece "very special" Harvey was surprised with the honour, stating that he "was really quite shocked to win". His son Nick played the piano. The performance was broadcast on BBC Breakfast.

Musical works "Four Notes – Paul's Tune" – originally an improvisation using only four notes: a charity single released in 2020. The song is a collaboration between Harvey, Daniel Whibley and the BBC Philharmonic. It reached number 32 on the UK singles chart and number 1 on the UK singles download chart. The single raised over £1 million; Christmas Isn't Just Another Day – a charity Christmas single created with Nick Harvey and Aled Jones. Lyrics to the song were provided by Pete Talman. The single was broadcast through Music for Dementia's m4d radio station.